Conditional Content Enhancement

ABSTRACT

An example computer system identifies a capability of a playback device to reproduce audio content. Based on the capability, the computer system identifies a first version of audio content for playback by the playback device and causes the playback device to play back the first version of audio content. While the playback device is playing back the first version of the audio content, the computer system detects a change in a network connection between the computer system and the playback device. Based on the detected change in the network connection and the capability of the playback device, the computer system identifies a second version of audio content for playback by the playback device and causes the playback device to transition from playing back the first version of the audio content to playing back the second version of the audio content.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/696,316 filed Nov. 26, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 15/973,443, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,524,070, filed May7, 2018, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/280,979, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,967,689, filed Sep. 29, 2016, thedisclosures of which are explicitly incorporated by reference herein intheir entirety. The present application also incorporates by referenceU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/239,077, now U.S. Pat. No.9,286,384, filed on Sep. 21, 2011, for “Methods and Systems to ShareMedia” and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/971,796, now U.S. Pat.No. 10,098,082, filed on Dec. 16, 2015, for “Synchronization of ContentBetween Networked Devices.”

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure is related to consumer goods and, more particularly, tomethods, systems, products, features, services, and other elementsdirected to media playback or some aspect thereof.

BACKGROUND

Options for accessing and listening to digital audio in an out-loudsetting were limited until in 2003, when SONOS, Inc. filed for one ofits first patent applications, entitled “Method for Synchronizing AudioPlayback between Multiple Networked Devices,” and began offering a mediaplayback system for sale in 2005. The Sonos Wireless HiFi System enablespeople to experience music from many sources via one or more networkedplayback devices. Through a software control application installed on asmartphone, tablet, or computer, one can play what he or she wants inany room that has a networked playback device. Additionally, using thecontroller, for example, different songs can be streamed to each roomwith a playback device, rooms can be grouped together for synchronousplayback, or the same song can be heard in all rooms synchronously.

Given the ever growing interest in digital media, there continues to bea need to develop consumer-accessible technologies to further enhancethe listening experience.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, aspects, and advantages of the presently disclosed technologymay be better understood with regard to the following description,appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 shows an example media playback system configuration in whichcertain embodiments may be practiced;

FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of an example playback device;

FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of an example control device;

FIG. 4 shows an example controller interface;

FIG. 5 shows an example flow diagram for the conditional enhancement ofaudio content;

FIG. 6 shows an example playback device and example audio contentsources;

FIG. 7 shows example audio characteristics of audio content andcorresponding playback device capabilities;

FIG. 8 shows example audio characteristics of audio content andcorresponding playback device capabilities.

The drawings are for the purpose of illustrating example embodiments,but it is understood that the inventions are not limited to thearrangements and instrumentality shown in the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION I. Overview

Examples described herein involve the conditional enhancement of audiocontent based on the capability of one or more playback devices that mayplay back the audio content. For instance, a playback device maydetermine that playback of a first version of audio content may beimproved by retrieving a second version of the same audio content havingaudio characteristics that more closely match the capability of theplayback device.

For example, a playback device within a media playback system may haveaccess to numerous content sources, such as audio and video streamingservices, content libraries, and local device storage, among otherexamples. Many of the sources available to the playback device maycontain versions of the same audio content, such as a particular song bya particular artist, or an audio track that accompanies a particularmovie. However, the audio characteristics of each version of the sameaudio content may not be the same. For example, a first version of theaudio content, available from a first source, may have a first bitdepth, sample rate and/or number of audio output channels, whereas asecond version of the same audio content, available from a secondsource, may have second bit depth, sample rate, and/or number of audiooutput channels.

Accordingly, when the playback device identifies a first version ofaudio content that is to be played back, the playback device maydetermine whether the audio content can be enhanced by identifying andretrieving an improved version of the audio content. For instance, theplayback device may identify the value of one or more audiocharacteristics of the first version of the audio content, such as theaudio characteristics discussed above. The playback device may thendetermine that the value of the audio characteristic does not match thecapability of the playback device. In other words, the playback devicemay determine that it, either alone or in combination with otherplayback devices in the media playback system, has the capability toplay back an improved version of the audio content.

The playback device may then identify, by searching available contentsources, a second version of the audio content that has an improvedvalue for the audio characteristic that more closely matches thecapability of the playback device. The playback device may then causethe second version of the audio content to be played back, improving thelistening experience within the media playback system 100.

As indicated above, the examples involve the conditional enhancement ofaudio content. In one aspect, a method is provided. The method involvesidentifying, by a playback device, a first version of audio content forplay back from a first source and identifying, by the playback device, afirst value of an audio characteristic of the first version of the audiocontent, where the playback device includes a capability correspondingto the audio characteristic. The method also includes determining, bythe playback device, that the first value of the audio characteristic ofthe first version of the audio content does not match the capability ofthe playback device. The method further includes identifying, by theplayback device, a second version of the audio content from a secondsource, where the second version of the audio content includes the audiocharacteristic having a second value, and where the second value of theaudio characteristic is closer to the capability of the playback device.The method also involves causing playback of the second version of theaudio content.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes aprocessor, a non-transitory computer readable medium, and programinstructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium that,when executed by the processor, cause the playback device to performfunctions including identifying a first version of audio content forplay back from a first source, and identifying a first value of an audiocharacteristic of the first version of the audio content, where theplayback device includes a capability corresponding to the audiocharacteristic. The functions also include determining that the firstvalue of the audio characteristic of the first version of the audiocontent does not match the capability of the playback device. Thefunctions further include identifying a second version of the audiocontent from a second source, where the second version of the audiocontent includes the audio characteristic having a second value, andwhere the second value of the audio characteristic is closer to thecapability of the playback device. The functions also include causingplayback of the second version of the audio content.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a playback device to cause the playbackdevice to perform functions. The functions include identifying a firstversion of audio content for play back from a first source andidentifying a first value of an audio characteristic of the firstversion of the audio content, where the playback device includes acapability corresponding to the audio characteristic. The functions alsoinclude determining that the first value of the audio characteristic ofthe first version of the audio content does not match the capability ofthe playback device. The functions further include identifying a secondversion of the audio content from a second source, where the secondversion of the audio content includes the audio characteristic having asecond value, and where the second value of the audio characteristic iscloser to the capability of the playback device. The functions alsoinclude causing playback of the second version of the audio content.

It will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that thisdisclosure includes numerous other embodiments. It will be understood byone of ordinary skill in the art that this disclosure includes numerousother examples. While some examples described herein may refer tofunctions performed by given actors such as “users” and/or otherentities, it should be understood that this description is for purposesof explanation only. The claims should not be interpreted to requireaction by any such example actor unless explicitly required by thelanguage of the claims themselves.

While some examples described herein may refer to functions performed bygiven actors such as “users” and/or other entities, it should beunderstood that this is for purposes of explanation only. The claimsshould not be interpreted to require action by any such example actorunless explicitly required by the language of the claims themselves.

II. Example Operating Environment

FIG. 1 shows an example configuration of a media playback system 100 inwhich one or more embodiments disclosed herein may be practiced orimplemented. The media playback system 100 as shown is associated withan example home environment having several rooms and spaces, such as forexample, a master bedroom, an office, a dining room, and a living room.As shown in the example of FIG. 1, the media playback system 100includes playback devices 102-124, control devices 126 and 128, and awired or wireless network router 130.

Further discussions relating to the different components of the examplemedia playback system 100 and how the different components may interactto provide a user with a media experience may be found in the followingsections. While discussions herein may generally refer to the examplemedia playback system 100, technologies described herein are not limitedto applications within, among other things, the home environment asshown in FIG. 1. For instance, the technologies described herein may beuseful in environments where multi-zone audio may be desired, such as,for example, a commercial setting like a restaurant, mall or airport, avehicle like a sports utility vehicle (SUV), bus or car, a ship or boat,an airplane, and so on.

a. Example Playback Devices

FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of an example playback device200 that may be configured to be one or more of the playback devices102-124 of the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1. The playback device200 may include a processor 202, software components 204, memory 206,audio processing components 208, audio amplifier(s) 210, speaker(s) 212,and a network interface 214 including wireless interface(s) 216 andwired interface(s) 218. In one case, the playback device 200 may notinclude the speaker(s) 212, but rather a speaker interface forconnecting the playback device 200 to external speakers. In anothercase, the playback device 200 may include neither the speaker(s) 212 northe audio amplifier(s) 210, but rather an audio interface for connectingthe playback device 200 to an external audio amplifier or audio-visualreceiver.

In one example, the processor 202 may be a clock-driven computingcomponent configured to process input data according to instructionsstored in the memory 206. The memory 206 may be a tangiblecomputer-readable medium configured to store instructions executable bythe processor 202. For instance, the memory 206 may be data storage thatcan be loaded with one or more of the software components 204 executableby the processor 202 to achieve certain functions. In one example, thefunctions may involve the playback device 200 retrieving audio data froman audio source or another playback device. In another example, thefunctions may involve the playback device 200 sending audio data toanother device or playback device on a network. In yet another example,the functions may involve pairing of the playback device 200 with one ormore playback devices to create a multi-channel audio environment.

Certain functions may involve the playback device 200 synchronizingplayback of audio content with one or more other playback devices.During synchronous playback, a listener will preferably not be able toperceive time-delay differences between playback of the audio content bythe playback device 200 and the one or more other playback devices. U.S.Pat. No. 8,234,395 entitled, “System and method for synchronizingoperations among a plurality of independently clocked digital dataprocessing devices,” which is hereby incorporated by reference, providesin more detail some examples for audio playback synchronization amongplayback devices.

The memory 206 may further be configured to store data associated withthe playback device 200, such as one or more zones and/or zone groupsthe playback device 200 is a part of, audio sources accessible by theplayback device 200, or a playback queue that the playback device 200(or some other playback device) may be associated with. The data may bestored as one or more state variables that are periodically updated andused to describe the state of the playback device 200. The memory 206may also include the data associated with the state of the other devicesof the media system, and shared from time to time among the devices sothat one or more of the devices have the most recent data associatedwith the system. Other embodiments are also possible.

The audio processing components 208 may include one or moredigital-to-analog converters (DAC), an audio preprocessing component, anaudio enhancement component or a digital signal processor (DSP), and soon. In one embodiment, one or more of the audio processing components208 may be a subcomponent of the processor 202. In one example, audiocontent may be processed and/or intentionally altered by the audioprocessing components 208 to produce audio signals. The produced audiosignals may then be provided to the audio amplifier(s) 210 foramplification and playback through speaker(s) 212. Particularly, theaudio amplifier(s) 210 may include devices configured to amplify audiosignals to a level for driving one or more of the speakers 212. Thespeaker(s) 212 may include an individual transducer (e.g., a “driver”)or a complete speaker system involving an enclosure with one or moredrivers. A particular driver of the speaker(s) 212 may include, forexample, a subwoofer (e.g., for low frequencies), a mid-range driver(e.g., for middle frequencies), and/or a tweeter (e.g., for highfrequencies). In some cases, each transducer in the one or more speakers212 may be driven by an individual corresponding audio amplifier of theaudio amplifier(s) 210. In addition to producing analog signals forplayback by the playback device 200, the audio processing components 208may be configured to process audio content to be sent to one or moreother playback devices for playback.

Audio content to be processed and/or played back by the playback device200 may be received from an external source, such as via an audioline-in input connection (e.g., an auto-detecting 3.5 mm audio line-inconnection) or the network interface 214.

The network interface 214 may be configured to facilitate a data flowbetween the playback device 200 and one or more other devices on a datanetwork. As such, the playback device 200 may be configured to receiveaudio content over the data network from one or more other playbackdevices in communication with the playback device 200, network deviceswithin a local area network, or audio content sources over a wide areanetwork such as the Internet. In one example, the audio content andother signals transmitted and received by the playback device 200 may betransmitted in the form of digital packet data containing an InternetProtocol (IP)-based source address and IP-based destination addresses.In such a case, the network interface 214 may be configured to parse thedigital packet data such that the data destined for the playback device200 is properly received and processed by the playback device 200.

As shown, the network interface 214 may include wireless interface(s)216 and wired interface(s) 218. The wireless interface(s) 216 mayprovide network interface functions for the playback device 200 towirelessly communicate with other devices (e.g., other playbackdevice(s), speaker(s), receiver(s), network device(s), control device(s)within a data network the playback device 200 is associated with) inaccordance with a communication protocol (e.g., any wireless standardincluding IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.15, 4Gmobile communication standard, and so on). The wired interface(s) 218may provide network interface functions for the playback device 200 tocommunicate over a wired connection with other devices in accordancewith a communication protocol (e.g., IEEE 802.3). While the networkinterface 214 shown in FIG. 2 includes both wireless interface(s) 216and wired interface(s) 218, the network interface 214 may in someembodiments include only wireless interface(s) or only wiredinterface(s).

In one example, the playback device 200 and one other playback devicemay be paired to play two separate audio components of audio content.For instance, playback device 200 may be configured to play a leftchannel audio component, while the other playback device may beconfigured to play a right channel audio component, thereby producing orenhancing a stereo effect of the audio content. The paired playbackdevices (also referred to as “bonded playback devices”) may further playaudio content in synchrony with other playback devices.

In another example, the playback device 200 may be sonicallyconsolidated with one or more other playback devices to form a single,consolidated playback device. A consolidated playback device may beconfigured to process and reproduce sound differently than anunconsolidated playback device or playback devices that are paired,because a consolidated playback device may have additional speakerdrivers through which audio content may be rendered. For instance, ifthe playback device 200 is a playback device designed to render lowfrequency range audio content (i.e. a subwoofer), the playback device200 may be consolidated with a playback device designed to render fullfrequency range audio content. In such a case, the full frequency rangeplayback device, when consolidated with the low frequency playbackdevice 200, may be configured to render only the mid and high frequencycomponents of audio content, while the low frequency range playbackdevice 200 renders the low frequency component of the audio content. Theconsolidated playback device may further be paired with a singleplayback device or yet another consolidated playback device.

By way of illustration, SONOS, Inc. presently offers (or has offered)for sale certain playback devices including a “PLAY:1,” “PLAY:3,”“PLAY:5,” “PLAYBAR,” “CONNECT:AMP,” “CONNECT,” and “SUB.” Any otherpast, present, and/or future playback devices may additionally oralternatively be used to implement the playback devices of exampleembodiments disclosed herein. Additionally, it is understood that aplayback device is not limited to the example illustrated in FIG. 2 orto the SONOS product offerings. For example, a playback device mayinclude a wired or wireless headphone. In another example, a playbackdevice may include or interact with a docking station for personalmobile media playback devices. In yet another example, a playback devicemay be integral to another device or component such as a television, alighting fixture, or some other device for indoor or outdoor use.

b. Example Playback Zone Configurations

Referring back to the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1, theenvironment may have one or more playback zones, each with one or moreplayback devices. The media playback system 100 may be established withone or more playback zones, after which one or more zones may be added,or removed to arrive at the example configuration shown in FIG. 1. Eachzone may be given a name according to a different room or space such asan office, bathroom, master bedroom, bedroom, kitchen, dining room,living room, and/or balcony. In one case, a single playback zone mayinclude multiple rooms or spaces. In another case, a single room orspace may include multiple playback zones.

As shown in FIG. 1, the balcony, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, office,and bedroom zones each have one playback device, while the living roomand master bedroom zones each have multiple playback devices. In theliving room zone, playback devices 104, 106, 108, and 110 may beconfigured to play audio content in synchrony as individual playbackdevices, as one or more bonded playback devices, as one or moreconsolidated playback devices, or any combination thereof. Similarly, inthe case of the master bedroom, playback devices 122 and 124 may beconfigured to play audio content in synchrony as individual playbackdevices, as a bonded playback device, or as a consolidated playbackdevice.

In one example, one or more playback zones in the environment of FIG. 1may each be playing different audio content. For instance, the user maybe grilling in the balcony zone and listening to hip hop music beingplayed by the playback device 102 while another user may be preparingfood in the kitchen zone and listening to classical music being playedby the playback device 114. In another example, a playback zone may playthe same audio content in synchrony with another playback zone. Forinstance, the user may be in the office zone where the playback device118 is playing the same rock music that is being playing by playbackdevice 102 in the balcony zone. In such a case, playback devices 102 and118 may be playing the rock music in synchrony such that the user mayseamlessly (or at least substantially seamlessly) enjoy the audiocontent that is being played out-loud while moving between differentplayback zones. Synchronization among playback zones may be achieved ina manner similar to that of synchronization among playback devices, asdescribed in previously referenced U.S. Pat. No. 8,234,395.

As suggested above, the zone configurations of the media playback system100 may be dynamically modified, and in some embodiments, the mediaplayback system 100 supports numerous configurations. For instance, if auser physically moves one or more playback devices to or from a zone,the media playback system 100 may be reconfigured to accommodate thechange(s). For instance, if the user physically moves the playbackdevice 102 from the balcony zone to the office zone, the office zone maynow include both the playback device 118 and the playback device 102.The playback device 102 may be paired or grouped with the office zoneand/or renamed if so desired via a control device such as the controldevices 126 and 128. On the other hand, if the one or more playbackdevices are moved to a particular area in the home environment that isnot already a playback zone, a new playback zone may be created for theparticular area.

Further, different playback zones of the media playback system 100 maybe dynamically combined into zone groups or split up into individualplayback zones. For instance, the dining room zone and the kitchen zone114 may be combined into a zone group for a dinner party such thatplayback devices 112 and 114 may render audio content in synchrony. Onthe other hand, the living room zone may be split into a television zoneincluding playback device 104, and a listening zone including playbackdevices 106, 108, and 110, if the user wishes to listen to music in theliving room space while another user wishes to watch television.

c. Example Control Devices

FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of an example control device 300that may be configured to be one or both of the control devices 126 and128 of the media playback system 100. As shown, the control device 300may include a processor 302, memory 304, a network interface 306, and auser interface 308. In one example, the control device 300 may be adedicated controller for the media playback system 100. In anotherexample, the control device 300 may be a network device on which mediaplayback system controller application software may be installed, suchas for example, an iPhone™, iPad™ or any other smart phone, tablet ornetwork device (e.g., a networked computer such as a PC or Mac™).

The processor 302 may be configured to perform functions relevant tofacilitating user access, control, and configuration of the mediaplayback system 100. The memory 304 may be configured to storeinstructions executable by the processor 302 to perform those functions.The memory 304 may also be configured to store the media playback systemcontroller application software and other data associated with the mediaplayback system 100 and the user.

In one example, the network interface 306 may be based on an industrystandard (e.g., infrared, radio, wired standards including IEEE 802.3,wireless standards including IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n,802.11ac, 802.15, 4G mobile communication standard, and so on). Thenetwork interface 306 may provide a means for the control device 300 tocommunicate with other devices in the media playback system 100. In oneexample, data and information (e.g., such as a state variable) may becommunicated between control device 300 and other devices via thenetwork interface 306. For instance, playback zone and zone groupconfigurations in the media playback system 100 may be received by thecontrol device 300 from a playback device or another network device, ortransmitted by the control device 300 to another playback device ornetwork device via the network interface 306. In some cases, the othernetwork device may be another control device.

Playback device control commands such as volume control and audioplayback control may also be communicated from the control device 300 toa playback device via the network interface 306. As suggested above,changes to configurations of the media playback system 100 may also beperformed by a user using the control device 300. The configurationchanges may include adding/removing one or more playback devices to/froma zone, adding/removing one or more zones to/from a zone group, forminga bonded or consolidated player, separating one or more playback devicesfrom a bonded or consolidated player, among others. Accordingly, thecontrol device 300 may sometimes be referred to as a controller, whetherthe control device 300 is a dedicated controller or a network device onwhich media playback system controller application software isinstalled.

The user interface 308 of the control device 300 may be configured tofacilitate user access and control of the media playback system 100, byproviding a controller interface such as the controller interface 400shown in FIG. 4. The controller interface 400 includes a playbackcontrol region 410, a playback zone region 420, a playback status region430, a playback queue region 440, and an audio content sources region450. The user interface 400 as shown is just one example of a userinterface that may be provided on a network device such as the controldevice 300 of FIG. 3 (and/or the control devices 126 and 128 of FIG. 1)and accessed by users to control a media playback system such as themedia playback system 100. Other user interfaces of varying formats,styles, and interactive sequences may alternatively be implemented onone or more network devices to provide comparable control access to amedia playback system.

The playback control region 410 may include selectable (e.g., by way oftouch or by using a cursor) icons to cause playback devices in aselected playback zone or zone group to play or pause, fast forward,rewind, skip to next, skip to previous, enter/exit shuffle mode,enter/exit repeat mode, enter/exit cross fade mode. The playback controlregion 410 may also include selectable icons to modify equalizationsettings, and playback volume, among other possibilities.

The playback zone region 420 may include representations of playbackzones within the media playback system 100. In some embodiments, thegraphical representations of playback zones may be selectable to bringup additional selectable icons to manage or configure the playback zonesin the media playback system, such as a creation of bonded zones,creation of zone groups, separation of zone groups, and renaming of zonegroups, among other possibilities.

For example, as shown, a “group” icon may be provided within each of thegraphical representations of playback zones. The “group” icon providedwithin a graphical representation of a particular zone may be selectableto bring up options to select one or more other zones in the mediaplayback system to be grouped with the particular zone. Once grouped,playback devices in the zones that have been grouped with the particularzone will be configured to play audio content in synchrony with theplayback device(s) in the particular zone. Analogously, a “group” iconmay be provided within a graphical representation of a zone group. Inthis case, the “group” icon may be selectable to bring up options todeselect one or more zones in the zone group to be removed from the zonegroup. Other interactions and implementations for grouping andungrouping zones via a user interface such as the user interface 400 arealso possible. The representations of playback zones in the playbackzone region 420 may be dynamically updated as playback zone or zonegroup configurations are modified.

The playback status region 430 may include graphical representations ofaudio content that is presently being played, previously played, orscheduled to play next in the selected playback zone or zone group. Theselected playback zone or zone group may be visually distinguished onthe user interface, such as within the playback zone region 420 and/orthe playback status region 430. The graphical representations mayinclude track title, artist name, album name, album year, track length,and other relevant information that may be useful for the user to knowwhen controlling the media playback system via the user interface 400.

The playback queue region 440 may include graphical representations ofaudio content in a playback queue associated with the selected playbackzone or zone group. In some embodiments, each playback zone or zonegroup may be associated with a playback queue containing informationcorresponding to zero or more audio items for playback by the playbackzone or zone group. For instance, each audio item in the playback queuemay comprise a uniform resource identifier (URI), a uniform resourcelocator (URL) or some other identifier that may be used by a playbackdevice in the playback zone or zone group to find and/or retrieve theaudio item from a local audio content source or a networked audiocontent source, possibly for playback by the playback device.

In one example, a playlist may be added to a playback queue, in whichcase information corresponding to each audio item in the playlist may beadded to the playback queue. In another example, audio items in aplayback queue may be saved as a playlist. In a further example, aplayback queue may be empty, or populated but “not in use” when theplayback zone or zone group is playing continuously streaming audiocontent, such as Internet radio that may continue to play untilotherwise stopped, rather than discrete audio items that have playbackdurations. In an alternative embodiment, a playback queue can includeInternet radio and/or other streaming audio content items and be “inuse” when the playback zone or zone group is playing those items. Otherexamples are also possible.

When playback zones or zone groups are “grouped” or “ungrouped,”playback queues associated with the affected playback zones or zonegroups may be cleared or re-associated. For example, if a first playbackzone including a first playback queue is grouped with a second playbackzone including a second playback queue, the established zone group mayhave an associated playback queue that is initially empty, that containsaudio items from the first playback queue (such as if the secondplayback zone was added to the first playback zone), that contains audioitems from the second playback queue (such as if the first playback zonewas added to the second playback zone), or a combination of audio itemsfrom both the first and second playback queues. Subsequently, if theestablished zone group is ungrouped, the resulting first playback zonemay be re-associated with the previous first playback queue, or beassociated with a new playback queue that is empty or contains audioitems from the playback queue associated with the established zone groupbefore the established zone group was ungrouped. Similarly, theresulting second playback zone may be re-associated with the previoussecond playback queue, or be associated with a new playback queue thatis empty, or contains audio items from the playback queue associatedwith the established zone group before the established zone group wasungrouped. Other examples are also possible.

Referring back to the user interface 400 of FIG. 4, the graphicalrepresentations of audio content in the playback queue region 440 mayinclude track titles, artist names, track lengths, and other relevantinformation associated with the audio content in the playback queue. Inone example, graphical representations of audio content may beselectable to bring up additional selectable icons to manage and/ormanipulate the playback queue and/or audio content represented in theplayback queue. For instance, a represented audio content may be removedfrom the playback queue, moved to a different position within theplayback queue, or selected to be played immediately, or after anycurrently playing audio content, among other possibilities. A playbackqueue associated with a playback zone or zone group may be stored in amemory on one or more playback devices in the playback zone or zonegroup, on a playback device that is not in the playback zone or zonegroup, and/or some other designated device.

The audio content sources region 450 may include graphicalrepresentations of selectable audio content sources from which audiocontent may be retrieved and played by the selected playback zone orzone group. Discussions pertaining to audio content sources may be foundin the following section.

d. Example Audio Content Sources

As indicated previously, one or more playback devices in a zone or zonegroup may be configured to retrieve for playback audio content (e.g.according to a corresponding URI or URL for the audio content) from avariety of available audio content sources. In one example, audiocontent may be retrieved by a playback device directly from acorresponding audio content source (e.g., a line-in connection). Inanother example, audio content may be provided to a playback device overa network via one or more other playback devices or network devices.

Example audio content sources may include a memory of one or moreplayback devices in a media playback system such as the media playbacksystem 100 of FIG. 1, local music libraries on one or more networkdevices (such as a control device, a network-enabled personal computer,or a networked-attached storage (NAS), for example), streaming audioservices providing audio content via the Internet (e.g., the cloud), oraudio sources connected to the media playback system via a line-in inputconnection on a playback device or network devise, among otherpossibilities.

In some embodiments, audio content sources may be regularly added orremoved from a media playback system such as the media playback system100 of FIG. 1. In one example, an indexing of audio items may beperformed whenever one or more audio content sources are added, removedor updated. Indexing of audio items may involve scanning foridentifiable audio items in all folders/directory shared over a networkaccessible by playback devices in the media playback system, andgenerating or updating an audio content database containing metadata(e.g., title, artist, album, track length, among others) and otherassociated information, such as a URI or URL for each identifiable audioitem found. Other examples for managing and maintaining audio contentsources may also be possible.

The above discussions relating to playback devices, controller devices,playback zone configurations, and media content sources provide onlysome examples of operating environments within which functions andmethods described below may be implemented. Other operating environmentsand configurations of media playback systems, playback devices, andnetwork devices not explicitly described herein may also be applicableand suitable for implementation of the functions and methods.

III. Example Implementations of Conditional Content Enhancement

As discussed above, embodiments described herein may involve theconditional enhancement of audio content based on the capability of oneor more playback devices that may play back the audio content.

Method 500 shown in FIG. 5 presents an embodiment of a method that canbe implemented within an operating environment involving, for example,the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1, one or more of the playbackdevice 200 of FIG. 2, and one or more of the control device 300 of FIG.3. Method 500 may include one or more operations, functions, or actionsas illustrated by one or more of blocks 502-510. Although the blocks areillustrated in sequential order, these blocks may also be performed inparallel, and/or in a different order than those described herein. Also,the various blocks may be combined into fewer blocks, divided intoadditional blocks, and/or removed based upon the desired implementation.

In addition, for the method 500 and other processes and methodsdisclosed herein, the flowchart shows functionality and operation of onepossible implementation of present embodiments. In this regard, eachblock may represent a module, a segment, or a portion of program code,which includes one or more instructions executable by a processor forimplementing specific logical functions or steps in the process. Theprogram code may be stored on any type of computer readable medium, forexample, such as a storage device including a disk or hard drive. Thecomputer readable medium may include non-transitory computer readablemedium, for example, such as computer-readable media that stores datafor short periods of time like register memory, processor cache andRandom Access Memory (RAM). The computer readable medium may alsoinclude non-transitory media, such as secondary or persistent long termstorage, like read only memory (ROM), optical or magnetic disks,compact-disc read only memory (CD-ROM), for example. The computerreadable media may also be any other volatile or non-volatile storagesystems. The computer readable medium may be considered a computerreadable storage medium, for example, or a tangible storage device. Inaddition, for the method 500 and other processes and methods disclosedherein, each block in FIG. 5 may represent circuitry that is wired toperform the specific logical functions in the process.

At block 502 of the method 500, a playback device may identify a firstversion of audio content for play back from a first source. The playbackdevice may be, for example, the playback device 200 shown in FIG. 2, andmay further correspond to one of the playback devices 102-124 in themedia playback system 100 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 6 illustrates an exampleimplementation. The playback device 108 of FIG. 1 is shown, whichidentifies the first version of audio content 601 from the first source603.

The first version of the audio content 601 may be any audio content thatmay be played back by the playback device 200, and the first source 603may be any source that can provide content to the playback device 200,such as those discussed in section II.d. above. For instance, the firstversion of the audio content 601 may be a music track. The first versionof the audio content 601 might take other forms as well, such as anaudiobook or a podcast, among other examples. Further, although it isillustrated as a cloud-based source in FIG. 6, such as an internet-basedstreaming music provider, the first source 603 may alternatively be alocal network connected device, or a control device such as the controldevice 300, among other examples.

In further examples, the first version of the audio content 601 may beaudio content that accompanies video content. For instance, the mediaplayback system 100 and the playback device 108 may be integrated with ahome theater system, and the first version of the audio content 601 maybe the audio corresponding to a movie, television show, music video orother video content on a television. Similarly, a control device, suchas the control device 300, may include a display capable of playing backvideo content in synchrony with audio content via the playback device108. In such cases, the first version of the audio content 601 may bereceived from the same source that originates the video content. Forexample, the first source 603 may be a locally-connected device such asa cable box, a satellite tuner, a DVD or Blu-ray player. Alternatively,the first source 603 for the first version of the audio content 601 maybe an internet-based video streaming service that also transmits audiocorresponding to the video stream. Numerous other possibilities exist.

The playback device 108 may identify the first version of the audiocontent in a number of ways. For instance, the playback device 108 mayreceive a URI or a URL to the first version of the audio content 601 aspart of a command to play the audio content from the first source 603.In other implementations, where the first version of the audio content601 is pushed to the playback device 108, the playback device 108 mayidentify the first version of the audio content 601 based on metadatathat is received in addition to the first version of the audio content601. In other examples, such as an example where metadata identifyingthe first version of the audio content 601 is not available, theplayback device 108 may sample the first version of the audio content601 and identify it based on an audio recognition algorithm. Otherexamples are also possible.

At block 504, the playback device 108 may identify a first value of anaudio characteristic of the first version of the audio content 601,wherein the playback device 108 comprises a capability corresponding tothe audio characteristic. The audio characteristic of the first versionof the audio content 601 may be any audio characteristic that affectsthe playback of the audio content. For instance, FIG. 7 shows arepresentation of the audio content 601, including a list of audiocharacteristics such as bit depth 701 a, sample rate 701 b, and numberof channels 701 c. For the bit depth 701 a, the playback device 108identifies a first value of 8-bit 702 a, also shown in FIG. 7.Similarly, the playback device 108 identifies a first value of 32 kHz702 b for the sample rate 702 a, and a first value of 1 (mono) 702 c forthe number of channels 701 c.

The playback device 108 may identify a value for other audiocharacteristics as well, in addition to those discussed above and shownin FIG. 7. For instance, the playback device 108 may identify the audioformat, which may indicate the audio codec used to compress anddecompress the first version of the audio content 601, such as MP3, AAC,or FLAC, among other possibilities. As another example, some audiocontent may be object-based rather than channel-based, and the playbackdevice 108 may identify values for object-based audio characteristics,such as polar resolution, or polar coordinates. Other possibilities alsoexist.

In some cases, the first version of the audio content 601 may includemetadata that the playback device 108 may use to identify the firstvalue of the audio characteristic. However, in some examples themetadata may be unavailable or incomplete. In these instances, theplayback device 108 may, before identifying the first value of the audiocharacteristic, play back the first version of the audio content 601.Based on the sample of playback of the first version of the audiocontent 601, the playback device 108 may identify the first value of theaudio characteristic.

In other implementations, such as those where the first version of theaudio content 601 is streamed from an internet-based source, the firstvalue of the audio characteristic may change during the stream. Forinstance, the bit depth or sample rate of an incoming audio stream maybe reduced due to network latency or bandwidth considerations.Therefore, the playback device 108 may identify the first value for theaudio characteristic at regular or irregular intervals during playbackof the first version of the audio content 601. Additionally oralternatively, the playback device 108 may identify the first value forthe audio characteristic whenever a change in the incoming audio streamis detected.

Additionally, the playback device 108 includes a capabilitycorresponding to the audio characteristic. For example, FIG. 7illustrates a representation of the playback device 108, including alist the same audio characteristics 701 a-c that are listed for thefirst version of the audio content 601. For each audio characteristic701 a-c, the capability of the playback device 108 is listed. Forinstance, for bit depth 701 a, the capability of the playback device 108is 16 bit 703 a. Similarly, for sample rate 701 b, the capability of theplayback device 108 is 44.1 kHz 703 b, and for number of channels, thecapability is 1(mono) 703 c. In each instance, the listed capability ofthe playback device 108 may generally correspond to the highest qualityaudio that the playback device 108 can play. For instance, a higher bitdepth or sample rate may generally correspond to better quality audioand an improved listening experience. Similarly, some audio codecsutilize compression that results in data loss and degradation of theaudio content, whereas other file formats result in less data loss,utilize lossless compression, or are uncompressed. Thus, the capabilityof the playback device 108 with respect to audio format may correspondto the audio format(s) that result in the least data loss.

At block 506, the playback device 108 may determine that the first valueof the audio characteristic of the first version of the audio content601 does not match the capability of the playback device 108. Forinstance, as shown in FIG. 7, the playback device 108 may determine thatthe bit depth 701 a of the first version of the audio content 601,namely, 8 bit 702 a, does not match the capability, 16 bit 703 a, of theplayback device 108. The playback device may make a similardetermination regarding the sample rate 701 b, as 32 kHz 702 b is alsobelow the 44.1 kHz 703 b capability.

At block 508, the playback device 108 may identify a second version ofthe audio content from a second source. FIG. 6 illustrates the playbackdevice 108, which identifies the second version of the audio content 602from the second source 604. Like the first source 603, the second source604 may be any of the audio content sources discussed above in sectionII.d. For example, the first version of the audio content 601 may be aparticular song by a particular artist, and the first source 603 may bea control device 300 in the media playback system 100 that includes thefirst version of the audio content 601 stored in its memory 304. Thesecond version of the audio content 602 is a second version of the samesong, by the same artist, but the source 604 may instead be aninternet-based music streaming service or content library.

Although the first and second versions of the audio content are the samesong, by the same artist, the audio characteristics of the two versionsin this example are different. In particular, the second version of theaudio content 602 includes the audio characteristic having a secondvalue, and the second value of the audio characteristic is closer to thecapability of the playback device 108. The example shown in FIG. 7 isillustrative. As noted above, the capability of the playback device 108with respect to both bit depth 701 a and sample rate 701 b exceeds thevalues of those two audio characteristics for the first version of theaudio content 601. However, the playback device 108 identifies a secondversion of the audio content 602 that, although it is the same song bythe same artist, has a bit depth 701 a with a second value of 16 bit 704a, and a sample rate 701 b with a second value of 44.1 kHz 704 b. Thus,the playback device 108 has identified a higher-quality version of thesame audio content, the playback of which may enhance the listeningexperience.

Accordingly, at block 510, the playback device 108 may cause playback ofthe second version of the audio content 602. In some examples, beforecausing playback of the second version of the audio content 602, theplayback device 108 may synchronize playback of the second version ofthe audio content 602 with playback of the first version of the audiocontent 601. For instance, the playback device may align the start andend times of the two versions of the audio content and then match apresentation time stamp for upcoming samples that are to be played. Thismay allow for the second version of the audio content 602 to be playedat the same time or nearly the same time that the first version of theaudio content 601 was to be played, which may be important where theaudio content is synced with video content.

Further, in some instances where the second version of the audio content602 is identified after the first version of the audio content 601 isalready being played back, the playback device 108 may performadditional processing, such as cross-fading the volume between the twoversions, in order to provide a smooth transition between the playbackof the content. Other possibilities for synchronizing the playback ofthe first and second versions of the audio content 601, 602 are alsopossible.

Numerous other examples exist where the playback device 108 may identifymultiple version of the same audio content, where the versions havedifferent audio characteristics. For instance, FIG. 8 illustratesanother example in which the first version of the audio content 801 isspatialized for only 1 (mono) channel 802 c of audio output. On theother hand, the playback device 108, which in isolation might be capableof only single channel playback, may be grouped with playback device 106for synchronous playback of audio content. Therefore, the capability ofplayback device 108 with respect to the number of channels 701 c is 2(stereo) 803 c. Accordingly, the second version of the audio content 804that is identified by the playback device 108 has a value of 2 (stereo)805 c for the number of channels 701 c, which matches the capability ofthe playback device 108.

In some implementations, the playback device 108 may determine an updateto the capability of the playback device 108, and then determine thatthe first value of the audio characteristic of the first version of theaudio content 601 does not match the updated capability of the playbackdevice 108. For example, the playback device 108 may determine that asecond playback device in the media playback system 100 has been groupedwith the playback device 108 for synchronous playback. For instance, theplayback device 108 may be grouped with the playback device 106, asshown in FIG. 1, for stereo playback. Accordingly, the number ofchannels that the playback device 108 is capable of playing in itsupdated configuration may be 2 (stereo). Thus, the playback device 108would determine that the number of channels 701 c of the first versionof the audio content 601 does not match the updated capability of theplayback device 108.

As another example, the capability of the playback device 108 may changeif the playback device 108 receives a software update that increases thebit depth or sample rate that it is capable of playing, or that updatesthe file formats it is able to play.

Similar examples exist with respect to audio that is played in synchronywith video. For instance, the playback device 108 may receive a firstversion of audio content corresponding to a television program via afirst source, such as a satellite tuner. The first version of the audiocontent may include two channels of audio playback. However, theplayback device 108 may be grouped with other playback devices in themedia playback system 100 and as a result, be capable of playing back5.1 channel audio content. The playback device 108 may then identify asecond version of the same television program from a second source, suchas an internet-based video service provider, that includes an audiostream spatialized for 5.1 channel audio output. The playback device maythen retrieve and synchronize the second version of the audio contentwith the video stream, and play back the second version of the audiocontent. Additional examples of synchronization of audio and videocontent are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/971,796,which is incorporated by reference.

In some examples, before identifying the second version of the audiocontent 602 from the second source, the playback device 108 maydetermine a likelihood that an improved version of the audio content 601exists and is retrievable. For example, the playback device 108 mayidentify the first source 603 of the first version of the audio content601 as a line-in input from a microphone. This may correspond to audiocontent that is being generated live, and for which a second version ofthe same audio content is unlikely to exist. Therefore, the playbackdevice 108 may not attempt to identify a second version of the audiocontent.

Conversely, the first version of the audio content 601 may be identifiedas a music track having a URI at the first content source 603, such as astreaming music service. Based on this identification, the playbackdevice 108 may determine that it is likely that a second version of thesame music track may exist elsewhere at a second content source 604, andtherefore the playback device 108 may undertake to identify a secondversion of the audio content 602 with improved audio characteristichaving the second value.

In some cases, identifying the second version of the audio content 602from the second source 604 may include the playback device 108 searchingavailable sources for the second version of the audio content 602 havingthe second value. The search may include one or more queries, such as asearch a based on a universal content identifier, such as UUID, or asearch of available sources for metadata identifying the audio contentin question having the desired audio characteristic values. The playbackdevice 108 may also sample and fingerprint versions of the audio contentfrom different sources, in order to determine the values of the audiocharacteristics in those versions. Additional methods of searching forand identifying audio content are discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,286,384,which is incorporated by reference.

Additionally or alternatively, the playback device may identify a secondversion of the audio content 602 having values for the audiocharacteristics that more closely match the capabilities of the playbackdevice 108, but which is available from a second source 604 to which theplayback device 108 does not have access. In this situation, theplayback device 108 may cause a message to be sent to a control deviceof the media playback system 100, such as the control device 300,suggesting that a higher-quality version of the desired audio content isavailable from the second source 604.

Other similar messages or indications may be generated in conjunctionwith the operations of the method 500. These messages or indications maybe displayed on a control device 300 in the media playback system 100.For example, after identifying and playing back the second version ofthe audio content 602, the playback device 108 may cause an indicationthat better quality audio content was retrieved and is now being played.Additionally or alternatively, the first playback device 108 maytransmit a message to the first source 603 indicting that the firstplayback device 108 is retrieving a higher quality version of the audiocontent from a different source. Other possibilities also exist.

In some cases, causing playback of the second version of the audiocontent 602 may include causing playback by a second playback device inthe media playback system 100. For example, the first version of theaudio content 801 shown in FIG. 8 is spatialized for 1 (mono) channel ofaudio output. However, the playback device 108 in the example of FIG. 8is grouped with playback device 106, and therefore capable of 2 (stereo)channel audio output. Accordingly, the playback device 108 may identifythe second version of the audio content 804 spatialized for 2 (stereo)channel audio output, and cause playback of the second version of theaudio content 804 on both the playback device 108 and the secondplayback device 106.

In another implementation, the playback device 108 may be grouped withother playback devices for synchronous playback, where a second playbackdevice in the group, such as the playback device 104, has differentcapabilities than the playback device 108. For example, the playbackdevice 104 may be a newer model device that is capable of playing audiocontent with a greater bit depth or a higher sample rate, or perhaps awider range of audio formats than the playback device 108. In thesesituations, the playback device 108 may determine that the value of theaudio characteristic of the first version of the audio content 601 doesnot match the capability of the second playback device 104, and thenidentify a second version of the audio content 602 to match thecapability of the second playback device 104. The playback device 104may then play the second version of the audio content 602 in synchronywith the playback of the first version of the audio content 601 by theplayback device 108.

Extending this example, the playback device 108 might also identify athird version of the audio content. The third version of the audiocontent may have audio characteristics with values that match thecapability of the playback device 108, and are of higher quality thanthe first version of the audio content 601, yet are of lower qualitythan the second version of the audio content 602 that was identified forthe playback device 104. Thus, the playback device 108 may enhance theplayback of audio content by identifying, for each playback device inthe group, the highest quality version of the audio content that thatplayback device is capable of playing, and then coordinating thesynchronous playback of all versions of the audio content.

Alternatively, the playback device 108 may identify a second version ofthe audio content 602 that exceeds the audio quality that the playbackdevice 108 is capable of playing, as shown in FIG. 6. For example, theplayback device 108 may identify a second version the audio content thatincludes a bit depth of 24 bit and a sample rate of 48 kHz.Additionally, the playback device 108 may identify a second playbackdevice within the media playback system 100, such as the playback device112, that has capabilities that meet or exceed these values. Theplayback device 108 may cause an indication to be displayed on a controldevice 300 that a higher quality version the audio content has beenidentified and can be played back on the playback device 112. Thecontrol device 300 may present an option to begin playback of the secondversion of the audio content 602, and to optionally form a group forsynchronous playback with the playback device 108.

Similarly, the playback device 108 may identify a second version of theaudio content that exceeds the audio quality of all of the playbackdevices in the media playback system. In this situation, the playbackdevice 108 may present an indication, via a control device 300,suggesting to a user that playback devices capable of playing backhigher quality audio content are available for purchase.

Although the examples described thus far have involved the enhancementof audio content by identifying a second version of the audio contenthaving a higher bit depth, sample rate, or number of audio channels, itis important to note that the playback of audio content mightalternatively be improved by reducing the value of these audiocharacteristics. In other words, an enhanced listening experience maynot always involve “better” audio content. For example, the capabilityof the playback device 108 may be reduced in some situations, such aswhen there is a change in the network bandwidth associated with theplayback device 108, or if a second playback device that is grouped withthe playback device 108 fails or is ungrouped. In these instances, thefirst version of the audio content 601 may have a sample rate that istoo high for the updated network bandwidth, which may lead toundesirable dropouts or pauses during playback of the audio content.Similarly, the first version the audio content 601 may be spatializedfor 2-channel stereo output when the playback device 108 is grouped withthe playback device 106. However, if the playback device 106 isregrouped into a different configuration, the playback device 108 isonly capable of 1-channel mono playback. This in turn may lead to theundesirable playback of only 1 of the 2 channels of audio output in thefirst version of the audio content 601.

In these situations, the playback of audio content by the playbackdevice 108 may actually be enhanced by identifying and playing back asecond version of the audio content 602 having audio characteristics ofa lower quality, such as a lower sample rate or bit depth, a lessernumber of audio output channels, or a file format that is morecompressed and includes more data loss.

For many of the same reasons, the playback device 108 may assess networkconditions before identifying and playing back a second version of theaudio content 602 that corresponds to a higher nominal capability of theplayback device 108. This may reduce the likelihood of a situation wherethe actual capability of the playback device 108, as limited by networkconditions, is exceeded.

In some examples, the playback device 108 may prioritize multipleavailable versions of the audio content based on an extent to which eachaudio characteristics may affect playback quality. For instance, usingthe previous example, the playback device 108 may experience a drop innetwork bandwidth, and as a result may attempt to identify a secondversion of the audio content 602 that is of lower quality. In doing so,the playback device 108 may first query available content sources for aversion of the audio content having a lower sample rate. If a versionhaving a reduced sample rate cannot be found, or if a version having therecued sample rate is not sufficient to compensate for the decreasedbandwidth, the playback device may search for a version of the audiocontent additionally or alternatively having a reduced bit depth.Reducing the value of these audio characteristics may be prioritizedover reducing the number of audio channels, because the effect ofreducing the sample rate or bit depth may be less noticeable to theoverall audio quality than a reduction in the number of audio channels.

In a similar manner, the playback device 108 may also prioritizeavailable versions of the audio content in situations where the audioquality is improved. For instance, the playback device 108 mayprioritize an increase in the number of audio channels to match thecapability of the playback device 108 over changes in the bit depth ofsample rate. FIG. 8 illustrates such an example, where the first versionof the audio content includes a bit depth 701 a of 16 bit 802 a, asample rate 701 b of 44.1 kHz 802 b, and a number of channels 701 c of 1(mono) 802 c. Meanwhile, the playback device 108, which is grouped withplayback device 106 in this example, has the capability of playing 16bit 803 a, 44.1 kHz 803 b audio content having 2 (stereo) channel audiooutput. As shown in FIG. 8, the playback device 108 identified thesecond version of the audio content 804 having an improved number ofaudio channels, 2 (stereo) 805 c, to match the capability of theplayback device 108. However, the second version of the audio content804 has a reduced sample rate of 32 kHz 805 b. In this case, theplayback device 108 has prioritized the number of audio channels overthe sample rate. In other examples, the values of the audiocharacteristics such as sample rate and/or bit depth may have minimumthresholds below which an improved number of audio channels would nolonger be prioritized. Other possibilities also exist.

Finally, although the examples above discuss the playback device 108performing the operations associated with the method 500, it is alsopossible that a computing device that is separate from the playbackdevice 108 may carry out these actions. For example, a control device,such as the control device 300, or a remote server may determine thecapabilities of the playback device 108 and other playback devices inthe media playback system 100, as discussed above. The computing devicemay then identify and retrieve an appropriate version of the audiocontent from an appropriate source, and send it to the playback device108 for playback. Further, a combination of computing devices, includingthe playback device 108, may perform the operations in combination.

IV. Conclusion

The description above discloses, among other things, various examplesystems, methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture including,among other components, firmware and/or software executed on hardware.It is understood that such examples are merely illustrative and shouldnot be considered as limiting. For example, it is contemplated that anyor all of the firmware, hardware, and/or software aspects or componentscan be embodied exclusively in hardware, exclusively in software,exclusively in firmware, or in any combination of hardware, software,and/or firmware. Accordingly, the examples provided are not the onlyway(s) to implement such systems, methods, apparatus, and/or articles ofmanufacture.

As indicated above, the examples involve the conditional enhancement ofaudio content. In one aspect, a method is provided. The method involvesidentifying, by a playback device, a first version of audio content forplay back from a first source and identifying, by the playback device, afirst value of an audio characteristic of the first version of the audiocontent, where the playback device includes a capability correspondingto the audio characteristic. The method also includes determining, bythe playback device, that the first value of the audio characteristic ofthe first version of the audio content does not match the capability ofthe playback device. The method further includes identifying, by theplayback device, a second version of the audio content from a secondsource, where the second version of the audio content includes the audiocharacteristic having a second value, and where the second value of theaudio characteristic is closer to the capability of the playback device.The method also involves causing playback of the second version of theaudio content.

In another aspect, a device is provided. The device includes aprocessor, a non-transitory computer readable medium, and programinstructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium that,when executed by the processor, cause the playback device to performfunctions including identifying a first version of audio content forplay back from a first source, and identifying a first value of an audiocharacteristic of the first version of the audio content, where theplayback device includes a capability corresponding to the audiocharacteristic. The functions also include determining that the firstvalue of the audio characteristic of the first version of the audiocontent does not match the capability of the playback device. Thefunctions further include identifying a second version of the audiocontent from a second source, where the second version of the audiocontent includes the audio characteristic having a second value, andwhere the second value of the audio characteristic is closer to thecapability of the playback device. The functions also include causingplayback of the second version of the audio content.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a playback device to cause the playbackdevice to perform functions. The functions include identifying a firstversion of audio content for play back from a first source andidentifying a first value of an audio characteristic of the firstversion of the audio content, where the playback device includes acapability corresponding to the audio characteristic. The functions alsoinclude determining that the first value of the audio characteristic ofthe first version of the audio content does not match the capability ofthe playback device. The functions further include identifying a secondversion of the audio content from a second source, where the secondversion of the audio content includes the audio characteristic having asecond value, and where the second value of the audio characteristic iscloser to the capability of the playback device. The functions alsoinclude causing playback of the second version of the audio content.

Additionally, references herein to “embodiment” means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment can be included in at least one example embodiment of aninvention. The appearances of this phrase in various places in thespecification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment,nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of otherembodiments. As such, the embodiments described herein, explicitly andimplicitly understood by one skilled in the art, can be combined withother embodiments.

The specification is presented largely in terms of illustrativeenvironments, systems, procedures, steps, logic blocks, processing, andother symbolic representations that directly or indirectly resemble theoperations of data processing devices coupled to networks. These processdescriptions and representations are typically used by those skilled inthe art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to othersskilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth to provide athorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it isunderstood to those skilled in the art that certain embodiments of thepresent disclosure can be practiced without certain, specific details.In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, andcircuitry have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring aspects of the embodiments. Accordingly, the scope of thepresent disclosure is defined by the appended claims rather than theforgoing description of embodiments.

When any of the appended claims are read to cover a purely softwareand/or firmware implementation, at least one of the elements in at leastone example is hereby expressly defined to include a tangible,non-transitory medium such as a memory, DVD, CD, Blu-ray, and so on,storing the software and/or firmware.

1. A playback device comprising: at least one processor; anon-transitory computer readable medium; and program instructions storedon the non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable bythe at least one processor such that the playback device is configuredto: identify, for each of a first playback device and a second playbackdevice, a respective capability to reproduce audio content; determinethat the respective capability of the first playback device matches therespective capability of the second playback device; based on therespective capabilities of the first and the second playback devices toreproduce audio content, identify a first version of audio content forplayback by the first and the second playback devices; cause the firstplayback device and the second playback device to play back the firstversion of audio content in synchrony; while the first and the secondplayback devices are synchronously playing back the first version of theaudio content: detect a change in a network bandwidth associated withthe second playback device; and based on the detected change in thenetwork bandwidth and the respective capability of the second playbackdevice to reproduce audio content, identify a second version of audiocontent for playback by the second playback device; and cause the secondplayback device to transition from playing back the first version of theaudio content to playing back the second version of the audio content insynchrony with the first playback device playing back the first versionof the audio content.
 2. The playback device of claim 1, wherein therespective capability to reproduce audio content comprises at least oneof: a supported sampling rate, a supported bit depth, or a supportednumber of audio channels.
 3. The playback device of claim 1, wherein theprogram instructions that are executable by the at least one processorsuch that the playback device is configured to detect the change in thenetwork bandwidth comprise program instructions that are executable bythe at least one processor such that the playback device is configuredto: detect a reduction in network bandwidth, and wherein the secondversion of the audio content comprises a lower quality version of theaudio content relative to the first version of the audio content.
 4. Theplayback device of claim 3, wherein the lower quality version of theaudio content has a lower value for at least one of: a sampling rate, abit depth, or a number of audio channels, relative to the first versionof the audio content.
 5. The playback device of claim 3, wherein thefirst version of the audio content is encoded in a first format, andwherein the lower quality version of the audio content is encoded in asecond format that compresses the audio content more than the firstformat.
 6. The playback device of claim 1, wherein the programinstructions that are executable by the at least one processor such thatthe playback device is configured to detect the change in the networkbandwidth comprise program instructions that are executable by the atleast one processor such that the playback device is configured to:detect an increase in network bandwidth, and wherein the second versionof the audio content comprises a higher quality version of the audiocontent relative to the first version of the audio content.
 7. Theplayback device of claim 6, wherein the higher quality version of theaudio content has a higher value for at least one of: a sampling rate, abit depth, or a number of audio channels, relative to the first versionof the audio content.
 8. The playback device of claim 6, wherein thefirst version of the audio content is encoded in a first format andwherein the higher quality version of the audio content is encoded in asecond format that compresses the audio content less than the firstformat.
 9. The playback device of claim 1, wherein the first version ofthe audio content and the second version of the audio content areidentified from a single source.
 10. The playback device of claim 1,wherein the playback device is the first playback device.
 11. Theplayback device of claim 1, wherein the playback device is the secondplayback device.
 12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, whereinthe non-transitory computer-readable medium is provisioned with programinstructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause aplayback device to: identify, for each of a first playback device and asecond playback device, a respective capability to reproduce audiocontent; determine that the respective capability of the first playbackdevice matches the respective capability of the second playback device;based on the respective capabilities of the first and the secondplayback devices to reproduce audio content, identify a first version ofaudio content for playback by the first and the second playback devices;cause the first playback device and the second playback device to playback the first version of audio content in synchrony; while the firstand the second playback devices are synchronously playing back the firstversion of the audio content: detect a change in a network bandwidthassociated with the second playback device; and based on the detectedchange in the network bandwidth and the respective capability of thesecond playback device to reproduce audio content, identify a secondversion of audio content for playback by the second playback device; andcause the second playback device to transition from playing back thefirst version of the audio content to playing back the second version ofthe audio content in synchrony with the first playback device playingback the first version of the audio content.
 13. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the respective capabilityto reproduce audio content comprises at least one of: a supportedsampling rate, a supported bit depth, or a supported number of audiochannels.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12,wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium is also provisionedwith program instructions that, when executed by at least one processor,cause the playback device to: detect a reduction in network bandwidth,and wherein the second version of the audio content comprises a lowerquality version of the audio content relative to the first version ofthe audio content.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 12, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium is alsoprovisioned with program instructions that, when executed by at leastone processor, cause the playback device to: detect an increase innetwork bandwidth, and wherein the second version of the audio contentcomprises a higher quality version of the audio content relative to thefirst version of the audio content.
 16. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the first version of theaudio content and the second version of the audio content are identifiedfrom a single source.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 12, wherein the playback device is the first playback device. 18.The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein theplayback device is the second playback device.
 19. A method carried outby a playback device, the method comprising: identifying, for each of afirst playback device and a second playback device, a respectivecapability to reproduce audio content; determining that the respectivecapability of the first playback device matches the respectivecapability of the second playback device; based on the respectivecapabilities of the first and the second playback devices to reproduceaudio content, identifying a first version of audio content for playbackby the first and the second playback devices; causing the first playbackdevice and the second playback device to play back the first version ofaudio content in synchrony; while the first and the second playbackdevices are synchronously playing back the first version of the audiocontent: detecting a change in a network bandwidth associated with thesecond playback device; and based on the detected change in the networkbandwidth and the respective capability of the second playback device toreproduce audio content, identifying a second version of audio contentfor playback by the second playback device; and causing the secondplayback device to transition from playing back the first version of theaudio content to playing back the second version of the audio content insynchrony with the first playback device playing back the first versionof the audio content.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the respectivecapability to reproduce audio content comprises at least one of: asupported sampling rate, a supported bit depth, or a supported number ofaudio channels.